Assessment of Grandmother’s Character in ” a Good Man Is Hard to Find”

An Assessment of the Grand capture from A smashing Man is Hard to happen by Flannery OConnor The nan who body unnamed all(prenominal) throughout in the story is the protagonist and the central record of Flannery OConnors A smashing Man is hard to Find, a tragical story of a family who decided to go on vacation but got killed promiscuously on the road by a criminal on the loose named The Misfit. She is enable with a joyful spirit, a irritation in life in bitterness of her age. She is a non-stereotypical woman whose sexagenarian way of life vesture and beliefs contradict her voiceless, manipulative mind, an opponent trait of a peaceful and complacent woman in her time.The Grandmother is a smart woman who spangs how to assert herself by trying to intent all the acquirable resources a daily round her and manipulating them by appealing to their morality. From this cultivation we say t palpebra the grannie is a round and dynamic timber as her component part pitc hs from universe a manipulative mother to her son Bailey, to a quirky, playful naan who ignite her grandchildrens imagination by her stories, and finally, to a humble human cosmos who experiences awakening and acceptance of defeat in her moral battle and failed manipulation escape with The Misfit.Right from the beginning of the story, we are introduced to a powerful trait of the grandmotherher strong and manipulative character. She did not want to go to Florida, as her son Bailey has planned for the family. kinda she wanted to go to Tennes weigh to visit her white-hai bolshie friends and she was seizing at every befall to change Baileys mind (356). She would use everything around her to complete her scheme and mold things her way.She picks up a intelligence informationpaper and shows him the news some a criminal on the loose from the Federal Penitentiary who is headed towards Florida, and attacks his scruples and morals by verbalise, I wouldnt take my children in any fo cal point with a criminal like that a loose in it. I couldnt answer to my conscience if I did (356). When her showtime attempt gets no response, she uses her grandchildren and hopes to convince Baileys mind this time by saying that the children need to see the other part of the world and be broad (356).Finally, when she realizes defeat, the grandmother is the first one all hard-boiled to go the next morning, an indication of the vigour and flexibility of her character. This same manipulative character is so important in the development of the plot that it will set attack and conflict of the story. The grandmother act upons her son Bailey to sour a detour and let the family see an old firm off road. When Bailey says no, she over again uses her grandchildren by telling them lies about the hidden panel in the folk where the old family that used to stay in that house hid their silver.The grandmother knows she ignites the childrens imagination and senses loving this time. Thi s sends the children to a frantic tantrum and finally changes Baileys mind. The detour causes them an accident and their adjoin with The Misfit. In her adjoin with The Misfit, still elevated with power over her aptitude to qualifier her sons mind, she does the same simulated military operation to The Misfit, and hopes not to get killed by persuading The Misfit to change his ways. She evangelizes on his morality and flatters him by endlessly telling him he is a untroubled man and that he comes from a pleasant people (364).Her desperation is overwhelming as she desperately tries to reach out with The Misfit by calling him one of her children and touching him on his shoulders. This desperate action brings her to her death in the hands of The Misfit. Apparently, her manipulative scheme does not work with The Misfit, instead gets him to a greater extent vex and angry as he states, She would wee been a good womanif it had been soul there to shoot her every nice of her life (368). Another indication of the grandmothers unique personality is her dress and demeanor.The author presents her to us as being a prim and proper madam dressed in a naval forces blue suit with a matching navy blue sailor hat and white cotton gloves. What makes her clothing and style peculiar and interesting is its inappropriateness to the humid condition of her surroundings. The grandmother seems unmindful about it instead she focuses on her aristocratic and old-fashion views in life. She states, In case of accident, anyone seeing her at peace(predicate) on the highway would know at once that she was a lady (357). rather of viewing the grandmother as fake and superficial, we could look at her as a lost spirit in a lost time frame and space. Her ex clothing, ways and thinking indicate her chains and nostalgia for the old days. This is shown through her constant recalling of the past, her fervent to reconnect with her old friends in Tennessee, and her nostalgia with the ol d house in the hill. These are important indications of a suppressed spirit trapped in the pain and joys of unresolved past.Tragically, this constant hungriness of the past will take her and her family to doomsday and death. Compared to the other characters in the story, the grandmothers character is the close dynamic and vibrant just like how her choice of clothing stands out. Her son, Bailey, is a cold-hearted and self-absorbed individual whose character is just as boring as his yellow parrot shirt. He consciously defies his mothers control and nauseates her jolly disposition, The childrens mother put a dime in the machine and play The Tennessee Waltz, and the grandmother said that short letter always made her want to dance.She asked Bailey if he would like to dance but he only glared at her. Baileys wife on the other hand, is a passive character whose only obsession is to move over her baby day and night. To illustrate it more graphically, the grandmother is a giant red ro se in the midst of weathered weeds in a domain. It becomes more vibrant in her encounter with the antagonist of the story, The Misfit. The grandmothers and The Misfits characters are both strong and pedigree with each other and it is reflected in their fence choice of clothing and differing views on morality. cultivation between them is like watching the difference of opinion of Endor in Star Wars-Return of the Jedi where the goodLuke Skywalker battles with the shabbinessDarth Vader. The encounter brings us to a vivid anticipation whether the good will admit evil and hopes that the grandmother will persuade The Misfit to spare her life and change his ways. scarcely to no avail. The grandmother will be shot three times on her chest. The death of the grandmother in the hands of The Misfit will evoke us differing reactions.At first instance, we may feel revengeful for the grandmother, and that she only got what she deserved as retribution for her selfishness and manipulativ e character. At the same time, we are also saddened of the evils hold over goodness, a brush of cosmos that at times or most of the time, guns are still mightier than words or even religion. The story concludes with a life lesson that a mans character and morality are so embedded in the individual that it cannot be changed overnight nor by the mere conjure of God or religion.It has to be say though that when the grandmother dies, the author describes her as half sat and half lay in a puddle of telephone line with her legs crossed under her like a childs and her face glad up at the cloudless gear (368), as if full of peace and heaven-sent grace. This demonstrates OConnors conviction on salvation through religion that everyone has the gamble to be saved no topic how deceitful the individuals actions may have been in the past. All throughout the story, our relationship with the grandmother fluctuates from hatred to love, irritability to sadness.We love her for her playfulnes s, her sunny disposition, and nostalgia for the past, yet we hate her for resembling with our own grandmothers or mothers who never exclude up at our homes and who seem to know everything in the world constantly insist their power and dominance over us. This ability to evoke an ambivalent feeling and familiarity with humans is what makes this story worth reading all over again. References O Connor, F. (1955). A Good Man Is Hard to Find. In G. Giola, & J. Kennedy (Ed. ), bundle Literature (pp. 355-368). USA Pearson